


You are my sun

by Cosmic_choclet



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, I'm late to everything, M/M, Sheith Positivity Week 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 20:37:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11699472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cosmic_choclet/pseuds/Cosmic_choclet
Summary: Shiro has been missing the sun for a long time. He may find a substitute for it on Keth.





	You are my sun

Shiro can't remember much about his time in captivity. He would get disconnected flashbacks on his dreams -sometimes they are nothing more than memories of sitting silently on a cell; other times he remembers talking to people, all context of the conversation loss- and as much as he tries to make build a linear memory of thee year he spent trapped, he just can't connect the scenes. Nothing stays on the forefront of his mind long enough to make sense of it and previous memories get replaced with newly remembered hurtful ones. 

There is only one thing he remembers well, something shared by all his recollections: an inescapable darkness and cold surrounding him.

Thinking rationally, he knew that galra cells, with their dim purple lights, were not suitable for Earth's creatures. _Why would they be?_ They were probably the first humans to be found, there was no way they could -or even try- to provide comfort for every single species they locked. But in the end, understanding this and knowing how it would affect him didn't help him at all.

Shiro had been prepared for spending a long time without sunlight. His original mission involved regular artificial doses of vitamin D and UV lamps. However, in his cell he had access to neither.

He couldn't remember the extent of the physical torture he was put through, but he knew the lack of sun was as much to blame for his fear and desperation. He didn't have a sky to look at and see a bright star, bigger than the others, that would let him know that somewhere close to it was his home. He just had those black walls, those cold purple lights and the miserable gloomy faces of the other prisoners around him. He remembered the overwhelming hopelessness those dark walls made him feel.

He had been disoriented when he got back to earth, but the moment he realized where he was he stumbled his way out of Keith's cabin to look at the sunrise, letting the first rays of morning and the dry breeze of the dessert warm his skin and dampen his eyes. He doesn't regret becoming a paladin -he was doing something great and he, more than anyone, wanted to put an end to the galra's empire of terror- but he did wish he could have spent a little longer on earth and bath on that sun he'd missed so much.

Despite know that he is free now, he still feels trapped sometimes. Yet, the castle ship is a big improvement from his previous space cage. Gray walls and blue lights made everything seems brighter and alteans had been accommodating of their natural earthy needs. He now has the freedom to walk around, to fly around and escape the sensation of being locked in a place, unable to move, and he can set foot in other planets for some time. He can feel the uneven unmoving ground under his feet. He can feel other suns and other winds. They are never quite how he remembers they feel on earth, but the sensation is still very familiar on his skin, enough so to be a comfort.

Being a defender of the universe also gives him an distraction to not think about much all of this had and still is truly affecting him. How heavy the absence of a life-giving light would come to feel the longer he stayed in space. How despairing and lonely it is to not have life around you -life unrelated to yours, wherever you looked around- reminding you that no matter what happened to you everything would go on for everyone else. He could shut all this thoughts off and concentrate on the more pressing problems, living in the now, not dwelling on the past or speculating about the future. But there are certain times -in the aftermath of a battle or after especially exhausting training-, when his brain is tired enough to override all his filters and emotional barriers but too full of adrenaline to allow him a rest, that he starts to feel desperate and cold again. And all of this, past and future, comes back to his mind and renders him unable to anything but wanting to run away.

It's one of those times, when he feels a shiver go through his whole body and his breath start to speed up. He excuses himself to his room, stumbling slightly by the feeling of panic filling his stomach and pushing on his lungs. He sits on his bed against the corner of the wall, curling up on himself. With all the lights of his room bright on, he wraps himself in all his blankets, warming himself up enough to sweat but not to stop his shivers. He hugs his knees and tries to control his breath, forcing his eyes open everytime they close due to the strain in his lungs.

It's not until Keith finally enters his room, takes all the blankets off his rigid body and forces him to lie down on the bed, that he starts to calm down.

Keith crawls into the bed with him, puts his arms around Shiro's trembling body and makes him flip to his side so he can wrap himself on Shiro's back. Keith's body, clinging to his back, is the kind of foreign heat -a heat not produced by his own body- that he had been craving. It makes him feel safe. Keith then reaches towards his face and plants a hand lightly over his eyes. The blue light from the room gets a warm white color seeping between the cracks of Keith's fingers and give Shiro the familiarity and comfort of a midday sun.

Shiro feels like he wants to cry on Keith's hand, grab his other arm and press Keith closer towards him, until his heat is buried under his skin. Instead, he moves slightly back trying to communicate his desire for closeness and Keith -his dear Keith- wraps more firmly against him, pressing his arms so strongly against his body that Shiro knows he has to be straining his muscles, and puts a little kiss on his nape.

It doesn't take long for Shiro to let go of his anxiety, but he doesn't let himself relax enough to fall asleep. He doesn't want to stop being conscious of Keith's warmth against him.  
He feels like hours have passed. Keith's arms have being relaxed for a while and his hand, still over his eyes, is no longer pressed on his face. Keith's breath is soft and warm on his neck, like a gentle morning breeze and Shiro finally realizes what he's been feeling for a long time now. 

"Keith, you are my sun", it's what he says.

_You are what keeps me alive_ , it's what he doesn't say.

He feels Keith move lightly behind him and then feels his lips pressing on his nape once more.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr @cosmic-choclet


End file.
